Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 February 2026
187. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Education and Youth the scaling plan for the new impact tool beyond the TYESI pilot; how results will inform funding and performance improvement rather than just compliance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13417/26]
View answerThe Targeted Youth Employability Support Initiative (TYESI) is a youth work programme which aims to engage and support young people aged 15 to 24 years who are not in employment, education or training. The focus of this youth work programme is on soft skills and developing these skills in relation to employability. The focused interventions are intended to provide community-based support to assist young people to attain a level of confidence and agency to engage in a wide range of currently available progression routes, programmes or services, for example: Youthreach, Community Training Centres, Community Employment Schemes, Traineeships, Apprenticeships, Pathways to Work and/or progress into employment. The programme focuses on five outcome areas: communication skills, confidence and agency, resilience and determination. The TYESI is delivered by youth organisations, supported by the Education and Training Boards (ETBs).
The impact measurement toolkit for the TYESI has not been developed as a compliance tool. It has been developed to measure the impact of participation in the employability focused youth work programme from the perspective of the young people who participate and the extent that engagement in the TYESI positively impacts their progression opportunities into further education, training or employment. The measurement tool will be trialled throughout 2026 in all TYESI projects across the 16 ETB areas. The department will be monitoring the trial of the impact measurement tool throughout 2026.
The outcome of the trial will determine if the impact measurement tool can be adapted to measure impact across other department funded youth schemes.
